On the arid outskirts of Amman, Jordan, Sami* begins another long day as a field laborer. He mops his forehead with a rag as the temperature climbs toward 100 degrees. Before ISIS forced him to flee his home country of Syria, Sami worked in an office as a young professional. Now he spends 16 back-breaking hours per day toiling in the fields, returning to sleep at the nearby refugee camp where there is little water and few toilets.

     But his labor is not in vain. A couple of months ago, Sami received an audio player loaded with our discipleship program in Arabic. While he breaks up rocky soil with a hoe, Sami is becoming a disciple of Jesus—listening to a teacher explain the Scriptures he was forbidden to study while in his home country.

Sami is not the only one studying the Bible this way. Last year, ICM sent over 6,000 audio players to Muslim refugees at camps throughout the Middle East.

One day, Sami and these other refugees will return home. And they will take their knowledge and zeal for Christ with them — to a country that has long been closed to the gospel.

Discipling indigenous believers is the best strategy we know to reach isolated people groups for Christ. Many who encounter our Bible study program give their lives to Jesus, become strong in their faith, and plant new churches in areas foreign missionaries could never reach. As more villages wait to hear the Good News for the first time, we will continue to equip willing disciples to reach them.

     Please pray for Sami and the other refugees studying the Bible — that they will grow in zeal and bring the living water of Christ to Syria.

*Name changed for security reasons